December 10, 2012 | 10:00 am

With the End of the World coming up on the 21st of December and all, we need to consider our reading options carefully. (Here’s a tip: don’t start the Wheel of Time series.) Nate Hoffelder has a piece on Digital Reading in a Post-Apocalyptic World over at the Other Place that got me thinking …

Maw was kinda upset the day the Apocalypse came. I remember her yellin’ at Paw: “Bruce! You’re a CPA! What the hell use are YOU gonna be?” But Paw, he just took it calm. “Elsie,” he said, “I got on to the file-sharin’ sites before the power went down.” He held up his Kindle, proud-like. “I’ve got every book on wilderness survival here that was ever written. And a solar panel to power it with.”

Well, Paw was right, of course, and while them other folks were stumblin’ round and dyin’ like flies, we were snug in the back woods, buildin’ a cabin and learnin’ how to skin critters and tan leather. Maw had a sorta breakdown that first winter after she had to cook a muskrat, and she warn’t no use to us for a while, but one of Paw’s books gave him an idea, and after we put her in a tree to keep the bears away she got us through the cold spell.

Things were goin’ pretty good that spring, till one day Paw came in lookin’ white. “They’re here, Bobby! Them people I warned you about!” I grabbed a rifle and snuck out on the porch. Sure enough, there they were, a whole bunch of dead-faced folk in black, wearin’ sunglasses. They were out of shotgun range, but one of em’ had a megaphone. “Mr. Wilson!” he called. “I’m Agent Jones of the Justice Department. We’ve received a report that you’ve violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Throw down your e-reader and nobody will get hurt!”